Amid blackouts, food shortages, Cubans face a dengue outbreak
Burdened by constant blackouts and food shortages, Cubans are now facing a new dengue outbreak in the middle of the hot summer that threatens again to overwhelm the island’s public health system, already reeling from the Covid19 pandemic.
Dengue is a viral disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and the government said the levels of mosquito infestation on the island are the worst in the past 15 years. In a meeting on Wednesday, Cuban health authorities said they had confirmed 3036 cases of dengue so far this year.
But most people with symptoms, such as fever, vomiting or a rash, do not get tested, as the health system also lacks testing supplies.
Health Ministry officials acknowledged that just in the first week of July, they had identified 14,256 people with ‘‘unspecified fever.’’ The ministry said that figure represented a 42% increase in suspected dengue cases compared to the previous week.
Official figures, however, might not reveal the true extent of the epidemic, for which government officials are giving differing statistics. According to the Communist Party newspaper Granma, there were 27.91 detected cases per 100,000 inhabitants last week. Speaking of the same week, a health official quoted by state media outlet Cubadebate said the rate was lower, at 19.7.
In a government meeting on Wednesday, Cuba’s Minister of Health, Jose´ Angel Portal Miranda, said there was dengue transmission last week in eight provinces: Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin and Guantanamo.
But videos shared on social media suggest the disease is also present and straining the public health system in other provinces.
Videos circulating during the weekend show the overcrowded emergency room at the children’s hospital in Cienfuegos, a province not mentioned by the minister. In one of the videos, a mother confronts a doctor asking loudly, ‘‘when will my daughter be seen?’’
‘‘Stop saying there’s nothing [to treat her]; I need you to see my daughter,’’ she shouted. ‘‘My daughter had convulsions, and you keep referring her from one place to another. What else do I need to do? I have a mother’s heart!’’